‘Graphically Challenged’ United’s New 787 Livery

United have announced on their facebook page that their 787 will have a new look to it’s livery. To quote their site, “Our 787 fleet will be painted with the globe livery but will get its own unique twist: the gold line along both sides of the fuselage will feature a special swoop from nose to tail. Our design is inspired by Boeing’s trademarked swoop, and pays tribute to our long history of working together.”

You what now? That’s a new livery? I know… my thoughts exactly! If it wasn’t for the fact the gold line accidently wobbles along the fuselage you would be pretty sure that it was the same livery. Fundamentally it is, and this is a big bit of PR for the company to showcase this aircraft as special, just as every other airline is quick to point out. Sadly, the airframe’s dazzling new special features are starting to fade in the public eye. Most people know about better cabin comfort, more space and larger windows with slightly dodgy electric blinds. Therefore we’re turning our attention to how the airlines look stack up against each other on this modern airframe.

Actually, as for most people, we were hoping for the ‘Tulip’ design to come back, the ‘Continental’/’United’ merger has created a bit of a weird hybrid brand that is still trying to find its feet. Gone the creative flourishes that United used to have, such as animated character adverts, beautifully illustrated in flight magazines and a little bit of design flair in its corporate design. Now merging with Continental means for a more straight laced informative approach. Very little humour, and what there is, is painfully dry. Therefore a super regimented ‘safe’ livery is what we should expect from this airline.

I guess if I didn’t know this wasn’t the Continental livery with a new font and new name slapped on the side, I would be less critical, however, it’s sad to see the ‘blue tones’ of the latest United livery to disappear to what really is a second rate show. This PR stunt of showcasing the new livery for the 787 actually showcases the merged livery for the very first time, with most previous comments on the look of the super-airline going unnoticed. Sadly, this isn’t really a livery to write home about, I much prefer the Thomson livery!

An entirely new livery/corporate identity is what should have happened, like when America West took over U.S. Airways, kept the name, yet re-branded with the new white paint scheme. I loved the last tulip livery, but was completely fine with a brand new identity. But for the higher-ups to just slap “UNITED” over the word Continental is weak.

Why go back? I always thought the tilt of the tulip appeared at odds with angled shape of the tail. Why two “U’s” overlapping anyway? United has’t had a decent livery since the 1960’s. Honestly, this version is a bit conservative, but the tail logo is very distinctive (despite the fact that’s it’s “borrowed”) and the eurowhite body is perfect for a global airline, IMO. Lose the wavy gravy stripe though, please!